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Cahill makes it official, drops Democratic affiliation

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 8, 2009 04:34 PM

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill went to Quincy City Hall this morning to officially drop his affiliation with the Democratic Party and found that he was, in a sense, returning to his roots.

Cahill had thought that he was always a Democrat, since first registering to vote when he turned 18. But he was informed by the city clerk that when he initially registered in 1977, he checked “unenrolled.”

“It’s all kind of foggy,” he said. “I had just assumed I did what everyone did in Massachusetts when they had political aspirations: register as a Democrat.”

But only when he pulled a Democratic primary ballot in 1980 -- to vote for US Senator Edward M. Kennedy over President Jimmy Carter – was his status changed on the voter rolls to Democrat. That status was certified when he ran as a Democrat for county treasurer in 1996.

“I became a Democrat kind of by default,” he said. “In a sense, I’m back where I started.”

Cahill also said Charlie Baker’s plans to run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination would not change his own decision on whether to run as an independent.

“It doesn’t change anything about my plans,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. The three candidates I would be running against are really strong. It would be a lot to go up against, but I think I’m up for it.”

“There’s so many different ways this can be played,” Cahill added. “I am who I am. I don’t know really where Charlie stands on a lot of these issues so it remains to be seen what his platform ends up looking like.”

He also said Baker was probably trying beat him to the punch and claim the mantel as the fiscally conservative, anti-tax challenger to Patrick.

“I’m sure it’s not a coincidence,” Cahill said. “The fact that he announced today, the day after I made my announcement, is probably not a coincidence…He may have said ‘Cahill’s in there, I might as well get in there too.’”

Cahill said he still had no plans to formally announce a decision to run for governor until after Labor Day. But he said one thing did become crystal clear this morning, when he looked at his voter registration form from 32 years ago.

"I have very good penmanship," he said. "And that was reinforced today."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.